So you're a terrorist

[SilentCom]

Have any of my fellow escapists wonder what it is like to be a terrorist? I'm not trying to advocate terrorism but have you wondered why people turn toward terrorism? I've heard a quote somewhere, don't remember where, but it was something like "one man's terrorist is another man's freedom fighter". I'm saying, have you guys questioned why the terrorists are doing the things that they do? Most of us dismiss it as "they're evil" or "they just hate us". If they hate us, what reason do they have? I ask this partly because it is not just Islamic radicals that turn to terrorism but even people within our own countries. Everytime you hear about random shootings or school shootings, this is a type of terrorism. I guess I'm just asking everone to try to look at terrorism from a different perspective.

 

[Sticky Squid]

I'd be an awesome bomber, not like the pants bomber.

 

[Jedamethis]

Fuck should I know? Really, as far as I'm concerned killing people who have not wronged you is...evil.

But then I suppose some terrorists feel they have been wronged somehow, and I wish we could find out how...

 

[GWarface]

Define a terrorist...

According to the "anti-terror laws" thats popping up faster and faster here in the western world, i could be accused of terrorism because of my hatred towards our monetary system and society in general...

So if you are asking what its like to be me? Could be better...

 

[almostgold]

Never liked that 'freedom fighter' quote, mainly because it ignores the part of the definition of terrorism that includes targeting the civilian population to causeterror to further your goals. I would change the word 'terrorist' in the quote to 'insurgent' (for references, it was mainly insurgents we were fighting in Iraq: they targeted us, not the Iraq civilians. Most of them). Not that stupid people don't use the two terms interchangeably...

 

[Stammer]

There's a movie I just saw called "Essential Killing". It's an artistic movie that literally takes the view from a terrorist's point of view.

They don't do it because they're inherently evil. They do it because they're being led by something that tells them that what they're doing is good. Fanatics who take things the wrong way and think that their leader or their religious text is saying "Kill people and you'll go to heaven".

Think of it this way: If your entire life is spent in fear and in poverty. When your religion requires you to follow it blindly and before any other laws. When killing infidels means you go to a paradise. Wouldn't you do it too?

 

[SilentCom]

Define a terrorist...

According to the "anti-terror laws" thats popping up faster and faster here in the western world, i could be accused of terrorism because of my hatred towards our monetary system and society in general...

So if you are asking what its like to be me? Could be better...

Terrorist:
? n
a. a person who employs terror or terrorism, esp as a political weapon

Terrorism:
?noun
1. the use of violence and threats to intimidate or coerce, especially for political purposes.
2. the state of fear and submission produced by terrorism or terrorization.
3. a terroristic method of governing or of resisting a government.

Courtesy of Dictionary.com

 

[Baron Von Evil Satan]

If you're referring specifically to terrorists in the middle east, it generally has something to do with either western influence, or the fact that many muslims no longer follow the strict paths set out in their religious texts.

However, terrorism in general is usually due to some sort of dissatisfaction with the government by a small group of people that decide murdering would be a better way to change their government than trying (in democracies at least) to change it through voting, protests, and "town hall" meetings.

 

[HK_01]

I guess I'd feel good about myself since I'd probably view myself as someone who fights for a righteous cause, or a freedom fighter fighting for his country and people.

Never liked that 'freedom fighter' quote, mainly because it ignores the part of the definition of terrorism that includes targeting the civilian population to causeterror to further your goals. I would change the word 'terrorist' in the quote to 'insurgent' (for references, it was mainly insurgents we were fighting in Iraq: they targeted us, not the Iraq civilians. Most of them). Not that stupid people don't use the two terms interchangeably...

I love that quote because it's just so fitting. Think of Afghanistan for example. The Mujahideen were "freedom fighters" or "freedom-loving tribesmen" in the Western media. The Taliban are "terrorists" though.

 

[GWarface]

Define a terrorist...

According to the "anti-terror laws" thats popping up faster and faster here in the western world, i could be accused of terrorism because of my hatred towards our monetary system and society in general...

So if you are asking what its like to be me? Could be better...

Terrorist:
? n
a. a person who employs terror or terrorism, esp as a political weapon

Terrorism:
?noun
1. the use of violence and threats to intimidate or coerce, especially for political purposes.
2. the state of fear and submission produced by terrorism or terrorization.
3. a terroristic method of governing or of resisting a government.

Courtesy of Dictionary.com

This is just helping my cause even further..
Put those 3 points up against what happends in the media and political scene right now..
Nothing but fear-mongering, false-flag attacks and threats of violence and prosecution if you dont follow in line...

THAT my friend, is also terrorism.. Just in clever disguises...

 

[Realitycrash]

I'v pondered terrorism. Not the kind you kill people, though. Information-terrorism, the way some hackers do by effectively sabotaging for corporations..Yeah, I could see myself supporting that.

But really, can we actually HAVE this discussion here? Terrorism is very hot right now, and very illegal. I doubt the Escapist wants us going "OH! I want to be one!" and discuss methods.

Edit: Btw, also this kind of terrorist; http://www.cad-comic.com/cad/20070725

 

[demoman_chaos]

Terrorist:
? n
a. a person who employs terror or terrorism, esp as a political weapon

Terrorism:
?noun
1. the use of violence and threats to intimidate or coerce, especially for political purposes.
2. the state of fear and submission produced by terrorism or terrorization.
3. a terroristic method of governing or of resisting a government.

Courtesy of Dictionary.com

Thank you for posting the definition.

Any parent is a terrorist for they use fear of punishment to control their children. But the ones who say they are against terrorism the most is the same group who committed the 2 largest terrorists acts in history. Hitler's men killed 3 mil in short bursts over the course of a few years, the US killed over 500,000 civilians in 2 go's. The atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki are the worst terrorist acts in history.
Justify it however you want, realize that all things you consider terrorist acts can be "justified" as well. The Japs bombed a military facility at Pearl Harbor (killing roughly 2000 military personnel just over half of which consists of the crew of the Arizona), we bombed civilian cities at Hiroshima and Nagasaki.

 

[DesiPrinceX09]

Well if you want to know about the so-called "Islamic terrorists" then I know quite a few things. I know that most Americans are full of shit when it comes to how they view these people because they know nothing about the history and politics behind them. What really gets me the most is how people often connect the behavior of these guys with religion and say things like "religion brainwashes you into killing things" and often points towards them to prove that "religion is teh evil"; religion isn't as involved involved in their mindset as you think. The whole killing infidels and go to paradise is mostly a load of crap, despite what American media might say, but then nobody will listen to me because I myself am a Muslim and doing anything to defend my religion makes me a zealot and terrorist by default so either way I lose.

 

[Me55enger]

Define a terrorist...

According to the "anti-terror laws" thats popping up faster and faster here in the western world, i could be accused of terrorism because of my hatred towards our monetary system and society in general...

So if you are asking what its like to be me? Could be better...

Took the words outta my mouth.

Because the possession of any quantity of Potassium Nitrate (key bomb ingredient, but of course, we all knew that) will get you nicked under anti-terrorism laws.

And, because its actually used as a fertilizer by farmers, every farmer in the UK needs to be nicked for potential bombmaking... in quantities of tonnes.

I think the phrase is "utter bollocks"

 

[DuctTapeJedi]

Non lethal sabotage that didn't actually hurt anyone.

 

[SilentCom]

Well if you want to know about the so-called "Islamic terrorists" then I know quite a few things. I know that most Americans are full of shit when it comes to how they view these people because they know nothing about the history and politics behind them. What really gets me the most is how people often connect the behavior of these guys with religion and say things like "religion brainwashes you into killing things" and often points towards them to prove that "religion is teh evil"; religion isn't as involved involved in their mindset as you think. The whole killing infidels and go to paradise is mostly a load of crap, despite what American media might say, but then nobody will listen to me because I myself am a Muslim and doing anything to defend my religion makes me a zealot and terrorist by default so either way I lose.

I completely understand, I know clear well that Americans are full of crap about how they view muslims, I am an American and see it pretty often. I am also a history major so I have a basic understanding about the history and culture of Middle Eastern people and know full well that Islam does not support violence. Even the term Jihad does not expressively mean "holy war" as many people assume but rather it's definition is somewhere along the lines of "struggle". This struggle, if I am not mistaken, is sort of like the Christian idea of perseverence against sin.

 

[Ham_authority95]

Have any of my fellow escapists wonder what it is like to be a terrorist? I'm not trying to advocate terrorism but have you wondered why people turn toward terrorism? I've heard a quote somewhere, don't remember where, but it was something like "one man's terrorist is another man's freedom fighter". I'm saying, have you guys questioned why the terrorists are doing the things that they do? Most of us dismiss it as "they're evil" or "they just hate us". If they hate us, what reason do they have? I ask this partly because it is not just Islamic radicals that turn to terrorism but even people within our own countries. Everytime you hear about random shootings or school shootings, this is a type of terrorism. I guess I'm just asking everone to try to look at terrorism from a different perspective.

Terrorists are usually desperate individuals who don't have much out for them. They see themselves as oppressed, wronged, and/or are uneducated to the point of thinking that radicalism is the only way to make things better.

"Uneducated" doesn't always mean stupid, however. The way that the 9/11 terrorists turned the world over with some box-cutters and flying lessons was genius.

Terrorists can be "Freedom Fighters", but they are still terrorists by definition. "Freedom Fighters" aren't always terrorists, though.

I'm not sure if I'm responding in the right way to the OP, but those are my thoughts.

 

[BRex21]

Fuck should I know? Really, as far as I'm concerned killing people who have not wronged you is...evil.

But then I suppose some terrorists feel they have been wronged somehow, and I wish we could find out how...

best way to find out how would be to study history. Particulairly how the Americans funded Islamic radicals when they needed someone to fight the Russians and abandoned them to die when the cold war ended.
Sadly far to many Americans have a short memory on these things and forget they had a hand to play in it too, and Sadly the extreme view being held by radical muslims that Americans are evil is being echoed by many Americans who just want to say all muslims are evil. The best thing for everyone may have been to turn the other cheek, mourn our losses and go on living, the fighting only brings the opportunity for more hate.

 

[DesiPrinceX09]

Well if you want to know about the so-called "Islamic terrorists" then I know quite a few things. I know that most Americans are full of shit when it comes to how they view these people because they know nothing about the history and politics behind them. What really gets me the most is how people often connect the behavior of these guys with religion and say things like "religion brainwashes you into killing things" and often points towards them to prove that "religion is teh evil"; religion isn't as involved involved in their mindset as you think. The whole killing infidels and go to paradise is mostly a load of crap, despite what American media might say, but then nobody will listen to me because I myself am a Muslim and doing anything to defend my religion makes me a zealot and terrorist by default so either way I lose.

I completely understand, I know clear well that Americans are full of crap about how they view muslims, I am an American and see it pretty often. I am also a history major so I have a basic understanding about the history and culture of Middle Eastern people and know full well that Islam does not support violence. Even the term Jihad does not expressively mean "holy war" as many people assume but rather it's definition is somewhere along the lines of "struggle". This struggle, if I am not mistaken, is sort of like the Christian idea of perseverance against sin.

Right you are sir, Jihad is indeed a struggle (and there are multiple types or Jihad). A guest speaker at my Mosque in Houston, Texas got arrested at the airport because he had a book about Jihad with him so that right there shows how paranoid people are just about that word. One type of Jihad is called Jihad Al-naffs which means struggle against yourself and your lower primal desires. Going to school and doing all your work is a Jihad, working a job to earn money for a living is a Jihad, me having to deal with prejudice idiots all the time is also a Jihad.

 

[ChocoFace]

i'd either be the best or worst advertisement agent for my religion, if i think about it now.
In all seriousness, if i'd be extremist in my hypothetical islamic views, i wouldn't be me. I never lean to the extremity of any side of anything, ever. Walking the neutral path is so much more rewarding.